Pluxee cuts 2026 outlook on uncertain market environment but raises margin guidance

By Hugo Lhomedet and Mathias de Rozario

(Reuters) -French voucher and benefits company Pluxee on Thursday raised its margin guidance for fiscal year 2026 due to high client retention but forecast slower revenue growth citing an uncertain market environment.

Pluxee, which spun off from Sodexo in 2024, posted recurring earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization of 471 million euros ($549.3 million) for the fiscal year 2025 to August 31, a slight beat to the 468 million euros expected by analysts, as per a company-provided consensus.

It now expects recurring EBITDA margin to rise by 100 basis points in fiscal 2026 against the previous guidance of a 75-bp increase, and the recurring cash conversion rate to be above 80% against above 75%.

The company, however, expects a high single-digit percent revenue growth in 2026 compared with the previous expectation of low double-digit growth.

"...our customers are hiring less or slowing down recruitment, which means that the growth of this end-consumer portfolio is much less dynamic," finance chief Stéphane Lhopiteau told journalists.

However, the firm's net retention rate remained at a high level of 100%, in line with its target, Lhopiteau said.

Benefits providers like Pluxee and Edenred are increasingly relying on tertiary geographies like Latin America to drive profits, as they cope with slowdown in their main business regions amid rising economic uncertainty.

Pluxee's revenue in Latin America came in at 489 million euros for its fiscal year 2025, 38% of the group's total revenue compared with 38.39% a year ago.

The firm also announced a 100 million euro share buyback program from October 31, running through June 2026, funded by record cash generation, while maintaining its M&A strategy for growth.

It announced a 9% increase in dividend per share to 0.38 euros, compared with 0.35 euros last year.

($1 = 0.8575 euros)

(Reporting by Hugo Lhomedet and Mathias de Rozario in Gdansk; Editing by Harikrishnan Nair and Mrigank Dhaniwala)